Artificial tooth



Patented lMayv 14, '1929... f Y

S PATENT-OFFICE# .DANIEL J. cnoWLEY,

or WALTHAMMAssAoHUsEr-Ts, AssrsNon To THEfcoLUMBUs vDENTAL MANUFACTURING CQMPANY, orV COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION.

- ARTIFICIALY Toorn.

VApplication fi1ed'1`ebruary`1-51928`. "S.era1No. 254,417,

lMuy invention relatesbroadly'to artificial teeth, butris especially useful in connection with that class of artificial teeth lknown to the` artLcommonly as interchangeable teeth. They 5 inventioncomprehends a novel way ofidentifying shapes and sizes of teethso thatthey may be duplicated in stock by the manufacturer, orderedv in duplicate by the dealer from the manufacturer or obtained in duplicate from the-dealer by the dentist, all parties being familiar with theutllity and purpose! Heretofore, it has been* most common to' provide artificial teeth'with an embossed or raised identification character, the latterv usu. ally appearingKV on the lingual surface of crown teeth and' on the ridgelap surface of vulcanite, pin and interchangeable teeth, andy usually happens that `the embossedfcharac--` ters are entirely removed. This procedure vis particularly practice'dwhereit is desired to cover the ridgelap surface ofthe tooth with metal, or wherethe rdigelap surface of the tooth makes direct contact with the soft gum tissue, or where 'the concave curvature of the ridgelap surface of the tooth does not con'-k form to the convex curvature of the gum tis# sue, or whereit is desired to shorten an artificial tooth, the'requirement-s ofthe case vdemanding that the tooth be shortened from the ridgelap end. It is also common practice for ters from the lingual surface of crown teeth Y because these embossed characters are a source of irritation to the tongue, hence, an annoyance to the patient. :All vof this applies to artificial teeth in general. Y

In consideration of the present'development of the art as it applies vto interchange ableteeth, it is universal practice for the manufacturer to market precious metal backings or supports in association with the porcelain teeth. The porcelain interchangeable teeth are machined or ground to certain predetermined dimensions so that they fit accurately the preciousmetal backings; it being understood that each tooth andbacking enthe'dentist toy remove thel embossed charac` Yficial teeth.

gages by'interlocking means. Itis impor' tant to note thatthe process of manufacture necessitates the grinding ofV the surface or surfaces of an interchangeable artificial tooth. that comes in contact with the backing, hence, any embossed characters appearing onfthis j Y -surface, o'rsurfaces, are' removed during the.I f

manufacture. Therefore, these charactersY i lose identity and arevalueless to those parties subsequently handling the teeth. Thecommon method employed in the manufac# ture ofy interchangeablewteeth is to place kthe embossed identification characters on the rid gelap surface 'from which surface theyV arer usually subsequentlyjremovedthrough grinding by the dentist for the reasons .previouslyl generally'explained. The chief utility of ar tificialV interchangeable teeth. ,is known to ref side in thelfactthat if a ltooth be broken. in

service repair can be made lwithout neces- Vsitatmgfthe rrem'olval of the metal supporting bridge structure from the patients mouth;

further, a duplicate tooth can be'obtained by the dentist from ythe dealer kor'from the Ymanu-` facturer by referring to the identification character.V These features areimportant'pfor theyfsave time, eXpense and inconvenience both .to the dentist'y andr tothe patient.

-Thechief objects of my invention are to providezartificialA teeth vwith identification characters that cannotfbe removedby. the yorf v dinary grinding necessitated in manufacture or inthe practical application of the teeth'v in the art.y i Another' object' of my inventionjisto.ems

Vploy identification characters of dissimilar color. from each other and,or [dissimilar color from the tooth zstructure so v the characters colors may define-different classes ofy arti- In the drawings: f v Y. 4 i FigureV l 1s an elevation of a toothlooking at its lingual face, embodying my invention.

' Figure Q'is a vertical sectional view of the f same v In the drawing thek reference numeral 3 maybe more easily read andthatdifferent v v designates an artificial tooth, which is pro vided with asufiiciently deeply inlaid or imbedded identification character 4.

In making use of the embossed characters inthe past difficulty in readily reading them v has been encountered. VIt is known that porcelain is matured byvheat treatment, during which heat treatment the wareundergoes considerable'shrinkage and distortion. This embossed numbers to becomeless distinctso thatV they are read With considerable difficulty and in some instances cannot beread at all.

Further, some ligures are readily mistaken for othertigurestsnch 2%'mayhe mis may be confused With each other (such let-- ters as C, D, G, 0, and 4QF) when employing the'V present embossed `symbol method'.V This confusion is especially pronounced in warethat has received a .slightly` excessive heat treatment. y

In making use of my invention, thisdiiliculty is overcome and the identiiication characters can be readily distinguished and clearly read after normal and even excessive heat treatment.

In the past it hasbeen a difficult problem to number artificial teeth in a general Way because there are not only quite a number'of varieties or classes,.but the surfaces' are quite small and limited, making it imperative to use but :texv identification characters.

my method'. wherein I propose to use a diiferenit colored identificati-on character to repre sent different varieties or classesof" artificial teeth. It is understood that by making Ause of this methoolV a limited quant-ity of characters may be employed and s-uicient spaceY can be found on the surface of an artificial tooth to place them advantageously.` This combination of characters and colors' Oilers a sui'- icient latitude to cover most extensive manufacturing program in a very` simple Y Way.

My invention may be appli-ed to any of the various classes of artiiicial teeth and particu- Vlarly lends 'itself to being placed in any desired surface Without danger of heing'subsequently removed by ordinary grinding; Therefore, this invention is partieularlyapplica-ble to interchangeable teeth wher-ein the .This difficulty may beovercome by melting; use' of indeed, that these standard ground surfaces Y,

are altered by the dentist. l

My invention comprehends the use of a susiticiently deeply inlaidV or imbedded identiiication characterV in the porcelain tooth structure, distinctly dissimilar in color from the tooth and-designed to be flush with the immediately adjacent porcelain structure, so that the inlaid material composing the identication charactern or characters, Vforms a relatively smooth andV substantially even centour with the surface of the tooth inyvhieh it is placed, Whether the tooth be' ground or. unground. .Y riChe results accomplished by my inventionremoye the sourcesof irritation to the oral tissues, that has been common in past methods. The yidentification character is preierablycomposed of porcelain carrying a pigment or color although it may be `coinposed of any other suitable material.

l/Vhat I claim is:

l. As anew article ofmanu-iaoture an artilicial tooth having an inlaid vdesignating syin bol. Y v

2. As a new article of manufacture an artiticial tooth haring an inlaid design-ating symbol in the lingual surface of the tooth.` 3'. As a new article of manu-facture an artiiicial tooth. having an inlaid designating y colored symbol.

4'.. As a new article of manu-facture an artiiicialtooth having a deeply inlaid identilication `character in the ture Y 5. As a nev article of manufacture an arti fici-al toothv having a deeply inlaid identifica tion character in the porcelain tooth struc*- ture distinctly'dissimilarin color fromthe tooth and flush With the immediate adjacent porcelain strueture.- l

' In testimony Where-oit' I attiX my signature;

: DANIEL J .Y CROWLEY..

vporcelain tooth struc- 

